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SQM’s continuous contribution to a more sustainable industry is progressing hand in hand with community development in areas surrounding its operations. The 2023 version of the Community Technical Training Program was therefore launched in Antofagasta. This program seeks to provide new tools and knowledge to men and women in Tarapacá and Antofagasta, through various training courses to assist them in entering the labor market.

The kick-off ceremony was led by SQM’s Deputy Manager of Talent Attraction and Diversity, Bárbara Blümel, and the Regional Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare for the Antofagasta Region, Camila Cortés. In addition, representatives of professional technical high schools—a key component of the program—also participated.

“The 2.0 version of this program will directly benefit the towns surrounding our sites; we aim to benefit 1,400 people in both regions. Seventy percent of these spots are for women, in hopes that that they can receive training and acquire skills and competencies, enabling them to fill vacancies in the mining industry. The company is very pleased, considering we will also increase the offering and coverage of the program this year by adding Taltal High School, where we will focus on students in the mechanical and electrical specialties,” SQM’s deputy manager commented during the ceremony.

The executive also referred to the importance of agreements between SQM and high schools in the region, adding that “empowering students is fundamental to narrowing gaps in access to higher education or to the labor market. We want to bring skills into reach, provide them with competencies, give them internships within our company, situating them as candidates for a number of our hiring processes.”

Camila Cortés, Antofagasta’s Regional Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare, acknowledged SQM’s work in training new human capital, noting that “we are now able to generate a better workforce for the requirements of the industry in our region. These initiatives seek to provide the people of our cities and towns with the skills in demand by the industry.”

It should be noted that the program will take place in 14 towns in the Norte Grande during 2023, increasing its territorial coverage by 100% compared to 2022. In addition, the number of beneficiaries will increase by 37%, from 1,035 to 1,215.

Genoveva Williams, principal of the Mayor General Oscar Bonilla High School in Antofagasta, commented that “it is very important for private companies to invest in professional technical education and provide tools to help our students grow in the same companies where they are currently employed. This is a school with a high vulnerability rate, where there is not always access to training and improvement, and this initiative is a great help in opting for better jobs or to continue with higher education.”

A very similar opinion was expressed by Elizabeth Ninares, assistant principal of the América de Calama Mining High School, who commented that the students “leave the school better trained and focused on making a contribution to the development of the region, so hopefully this connection will be imitated by others in the private sector to benefit more students in the north.”

The Community Training Program allows, among other things, a group of selected students to participate in the Apprenticeship Program at different SQM sites once they complete the program, and, in addition, it invites students from technical high schools to do their internship at a company site in Tarapacá or Antofagasta, with a hiring option, thus contributing to the participant’s quality of life and that of their family.